Reusing syringes with a milk titration + discussion on lorazepam water titration

[[Li...]]

Thank you for continuing to support the community by sharing the results of your research with us, potatosaur! This is helpful information for members concerned about microbial contamination of syringes.

 

Your question about reusing syringes inspired me to research the topic further.  The study cited below caught my eye (pun intended).  The researchers found that syringes commonly used for intravitreal injections can release silicon oil (SO) droplets, especially when agitated via ‘flicking.’  These SO droplets can in turn result in eye ‘floaters’ and inflammation.  I doubt that a few SO droplets released via ‘flicking’ represent a potential hazard to individuals using syringes to measure liquids, but — over time — this practice might contribute to the syringe plunger not moving as smoothly in the barrel due to lubricant loss.

 

Citation:

Dias Júnior CS, Cardoso AL, Figueiredo AGA, Ota S, Melo GB. Agitation of the syringe and release of silicone oil. Eye (Lond). 2020;34(12):2242-2248. doi:10.1038/s41433-020-0800-9. Accessed online at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7784962/

 

[[Gu...]]

Thank you for your feedback, GumbyGirl! Just a clarification — when you say that you flushed the syringe with water after rinsing it, do you mean you poured water both inside (with the plunger removed) and outside?

 

Yes!

[[po...]]

Duly noted, GumbyGirl — thank you!

 

Libertas, I very much appreciate you looking into the matter. This is useful to know. Indeed the silicone oil droplets shouldn’t pose a significant risk, but now we can be certain (as expected) that agitating a syringe does degrade it. Good thing that I have purchased 100 packs of 1, 5 and 10mL! Anyway, I suppose that the rule of thumb to follow is that when a syringe becomes too annoying to use after being cleaned multiple times, into the bin it goes.